Cincinnati would become Ohio marijuana capital under proposal

Marijuana growing illegally in Ft. Thomas, Ky., during a police bust in 2006. Advocates of legalizing the drug say it’s important to limit the growth of marijuana to 10 sites in Ohio to ensure safety, but opponents are calling the approach a “monopoly.”(Photo: Enquirer file)Buy Photo

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Southwest Ohio would become the marijuana-growing capital of the state – with Hamilton, Butler and Clermont counties each hosting a cannabis farm bankrolled by local celebrities – under a proposal that could go before voters as early as this fall.

The proposed constitutional amendment would legalize marijuana for recreational use by adults 21 and older and medical pot for use with a doctor's note.

Under the amendment, Ohioans would be allowed to open pot-related manufacturing plants, retail stores and medical dispensaries. But marijuana growing would be limited to 10 specified sites around the state, including the three in Cincinnati and one just north in Montgomery County. The farms would likely include structures that would allow cannabis to be grown indoors and therefore year-round.

The 'Big O,' Frank Wood bring pot to your town?

Investors in those farms -- ranging from former Bengals defensive end Frostee Rucker to Indian Hill philanthropist Barbara Gould to the "Big O" himself -- have bankrolled the campaign to legalize marijuana, leading to accusations that the ballot initiative aims to develop a "monopoly" in the state.

The sites in Hamilton, Butler and Clermont counties are currently owned by local businesses, who were approached in the last few weeks with offers from unidentified buyers. In at least two of the cases, the local businesses had no idea they might be selling land to grow marijuana until The Enquirer called them Monday.

The Hamilton County farm would be located on 24.5 acres at 8485 Broadwell Road in Anderson Township, part of Forest Hills school district. The site is owned by Broadwell Factory Group, a real-estate holding company affiliated with Evans Landscaping.

A children's gymnastics center, Gymnastics Central, is also located at the address, along with a packaging company and other commercial tenants.

Former Cincinnati Royals basketball legend Oscar Robertson and Rucker are among the investors who hope to buy the Broadwell Road site, ResponsibleOhio said.

The Butler County farm would be located on 40 acres of farmland in Middletown, northwest of the intersection of Todhunter and Yankee roads. The location is about 1.5 miles northwest of Monroe Senior High School.

Trenton-based Magnode Corp., a supplier of aluminum components, owns the land, but had been seeking to sell it for about five years.

Potential buyers include Gould, a former design consultant and a prominent donor to the arts, ResponsibleOhio said. New York City fashion designer Nanette Lepore, who grew up in Youngstown, is also an investor.

The Clermont County farm would be located in Batavia Local School district, on 13 acres of undeveloped commercial land along Winding Creek Boulevard, which is off Olive Branch-Stonelick Road between Old State Route 74 and State Route 32.

Frank Wood, the zany former WEBN radio host who has been appointed Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley's Commissioner of Fun, is among the investors seeking to buy the site, ResponsibleOhio said.

'We are not getting into the marijuana business'

In each case, unidentified buyers – the marijuana investors – offered to pay a nonrefundable downpayment on the properties. In exchange, the local businesses agreed to take them off the market for at least six months. They didn't realize the potential buyers were including the properties in a possible constitutional amendment related to marijuana legalization.

Magnode had been trying to sell the Middletown property for five years. About two weeks ago, a Columbus-based real-estate company approached Magnode, saying it had a possible buyer.

"They would not tell us who that potential buyer was, and obviously we didn't care at the time," said Martin Bidwell, Magnode's president.

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Bidwell said he'd have to ask Magnode's board members whether they're comfortable selling land to a pot marijuana grower.

"If it becomes legal in the State of Ohio and I've got land that's been sitting around for 5 years, I'd probably say, 'Yes,' " he said. Still, Bidwell emphasized: "We are not getting into the marijuana business."

Evans Landscaping and Broadwell didn't know how their buyer planned to use the Anderson Township site either.

"If marijuana growing would become legal, and if that use would be permitted at that site, Evans or any of our affiliates would have zero to do with that," said Zach Peterson, an attorney for Evans Landscaping. "The building would be sold, and the site would be sold, and we'd have no involvement with it whatsoever."

Opponents: Next step, 'whorehouses'?

Even with possible farms lined up, the marijuana-legalization advocates have a long journey to the November ballot. The group first needs to gather 1,000 signatures – it started with a drive in Cincinnati on Monday – then receive cursory approval of its ballot language by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and the Ohio Ballot Board.

Then, the group would need another 306,000 signatures by the start of July – likely many more, to account for the typical invalidation of a number of signatures.

Anti-drug groups and Ohio's statewide elected officials have already come out against the proposal, both because they think weed is dangerous and because the proposal writes the growers into the constitution.

"What will we have next, 12 monopolies for whorehouses in the 12 largest counties? It's outrageous," Auditor Dave Yost said last month.

Controlling the number of marijuana growers will allow Ohio to guarantee the safety of its pot, said Chris Stock, an attorney serving as a consultant for ResponsibleOhio.

"If you follow the examples of some of these other states that haven't regulated it tightly, what you will see is there has been slippage. It allows the black market and the gray markets to continue to thrive," Stock said. "We've got to keep the raw materials under lock and key."

An independent commission would take away the licenses of any of the 10 growers and invite more farms to produce cannabis if demand became too great, Stock said.

Legalizing and regulating pot will allow law enforcement officers to focus on problems such as the heroin trade or even underage use of weed, Stock said.

"You'd better believe there's going to be a 'tough on crime' element as it relates to anyone under the age of 21. It's the expenses that are related to marijuana use by those over the age of 21 that's clogging the law enforcement system," he said.

Still, Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann said he's worried legalization could increase marijuana use, especially among young people. A federal study found use by people of all ages did increase in Colorado following legalization there, but a study in the Journal of Adolescent Health last year found use among teens has not increased in states where it's legal.

In both cases, however, researchers said the period of study is so small that results could change in coming years. Hartmann said the risk is too great.

Clermont County Sheriff Tim Rodenberg is taking a more measured approach.

"We'll live with it. I'm not going to be a proponent of it, though," Clermont County Sheriff Tim Rodenberg said. "It will be up to the voters. ... There can be a lot of collateral damage that voters need to think about."